Author: nina hovnanian

Independent Catholic News
Sept 6 2014

Lebanon: Armenian Catholic Synod opens
Posted: Saturday, September 6, 2014 11:29 pm

The annual meeting of the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church has
begun at the patriarchal See at the Convent of Our Lady of Bzommar,
just outside Beirut. The synodal assembly chaired by Patriarch Nerses
Bedros XIX, comprises 14 bishops and a number of apostolic
administrators . The meeting which will continue until next Thursday,
will focus on important issues including a programme of initiatives
for 2015 on the occasion of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide
as well as the conclusion of the beatification of the Armenian
Martyrs. Also for discussion will be initiatives to proclaim Saint
Gregory of Narek, A Doctor of the Church. St Gregory was great
Armenian saint who lived at the end of the first millennium. He was a
monk, known for his writings and mystical science.

A major issue for the Synod will be the plight of many Middle Eastern
Christian communities who are suffering persecution. Participants
include Armenian Catholic Bishop Boutros Marayati of Aleppo, who has
spoken of fresh fear arising in the Syrian city with news of
expansionist designs and actions on the part of the Islamic State
Jihadist militants. Beside the usual day to day difficulties regarding
supplies of water, electricity and food – Mgr Marayati said – in
Aleppo fear is growing because IS militants are only 40 kilometres
away, No one knows if or when they will decide to attack, he said, but
many Christians are fleeing Aleppo.

Source: Fides

‘Art Is Worth Dying for’: Director Fatih Akin, Cast, and Crew Speak on ‘The Cut’

Monday, September 8th, 2014

Director Fatih Akin (standing) with cast and crew of ‘The Cut’ at the
Venice International Film Festival

BY HAROUT EKMANIAN
>From the Armenian Weekly

VENICE, Italy–Award-winning director Fatih Akin’s historical epic “The
Cut” premiered on Sunday, Aug. 31 at the 71st Venice International
Film Festival as part of the feature films competition program. Akin,
along with the cast and producers, were present at the screening on
Sunday afternoon at the Palazzo del Cinema in Lido, Venice, which was
attended by more than 2,000 movie buffs and critics.

“The Cut,” which is about the devil inherent in man, concludes Akin’s
trilogy on love (“Head-On”), death (“The Edge of Heaven”), and the
devil. The film deals with the Armenian Genocide and tells the story
of one survivor, Nazareth Manoogian. French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim
plays Nazareth, who is struck mute after narrowly escaping death.
Nazareth learns that his twin daughters may still be alive, and
journeys across the world in a desperate search to find them.

“Art is worth dying for,” said Akin before the screening, in response
to a journalist’s question about the latest death threats against him
by nationalist groups in Turkey, which intensified after the
publication of his interview with Agos, an Armenian newspaper based in
Istanbul. “I spent seven years to prepare for this film and the
controversies that would follow it, and now I am psychologically
ready. But I do not want to focus on this issue. I want people to see
this film first as a drama, as a western, as a work of art, so then it
becomes like a billiard ball that moves the rest of the balls on the
table.”

Mardik Martin, an Iraqi-born Armenian cinema professor at USC and a
Hollywood veteran, returned to scriptwriting for “The Cut” after a
34-year break; he last worked for Martin Scorsese on “Raging Bulls” in
1980. He re-wrote the screenplay for “The Cut,” which he considers a
western.

“In a way, yes, it is a western, because at that period the whole
Ottoman Empire became like the western badlands, where mass killings
were very common and Armenians were the weakest chain–with no arms and
guns to fight back. They were picked on by everybody,” said Martin in
a pre-press conference interview with the Armenian Weekly.

Many actors from Akin’s past films are featured in “The Cut,” among
them Moritz Bleibtreu, Adam Bousdoukos, and Onder Cakar. Akin,
however, depended more on Armenian actors this time. “It gives more
authenticity. I tried to include good Armenian actors as much as I
can,” he said.

Renowned French-Armenian actor Simon Abkarian plays a supportive role
in the film, as Krikor, another Armenian Genocide survivor. In an
interview with the Weekly following the screening in Venice, Abkarian
talked about Akin’s Turkish background, and what it brought to the
film. “I thought that I had to be in this movie because for me it is a
political statement. And of course, Fatih is a great director, after
all,” Abkarian said. “I hope many Armenians will go and watch this
film. We think we know our stories, but in fact we don’t. We have to
tell it over and over again to understand it. We have to call crime
and justice by their names. We also have to leave space for discussion
between all of us, a space of intelligence. For now, only art is doing
this, not politicians.”

“It’s been almost three to four years now, that some people in Turkey
have started to face their history. It’s time for an awakening for
them. We are here, we are not afraid anymore, because we were dead
once–we cannot die twice. But they can kill themselves by denying it.
Because if you deny it, you will kill the next one, and the next one,
until one day you kill your shadow, and there will be nothing left. To
continue on the right path, they must establish a sense of common
truth between them and Armenians,” he added.

Also featured in the film is Diyarbakir-born Armenian actor Kevork
Malikyan. He told the Weekly that it is wonderful that someone like
Akin has had the bravery and vision to make this film. Malikyan, like
Akin, hopes that “The Cut” will be shown in Turkey, and that it will
be accepted for the story it tells.

“When I started this project my goal was to make Armenians and Turks
come together to watch the film and take their share of lessons from
it,” Akin said. “My goal is to have this film establish a bridge
between them–even if the price of that bridge might be the criticism
of the west,” he added, referring to the negative reviews by European
film critics over his decision to have the Armenian characters speak
in English.

The $20-million budget film is likely to be shown in Turkey, according
to Akin. “While writing the script, I always had the Turkish audience
in my mind,” he said. Up until now, most of the reviews in the Turkish
press have been positive, which may be due to the media’s efforts to
self-distance from the far-right groups that made threats almost a
month before the premiere.

Actor Akin Gazi, who plays the role of Nazareth’s slain brother, has
Turkish-Cypriot roots. Growing up, he never heard any mention of what
happened in 1915; instead, he was raised with the basic government
version of history. “When you take a role on, there’s always
pressure,” he said. “Being of Turkish origin and playing an Armenian,
I felt a huge pressure. I wanted to do my research, because, honestly,
I didn’t know about the Armenian Genocide. When I found out about what
actually happened, I felt the spirit of those 1.5 million and maybe
more people who suffered. I wanted to honor those people. I wanted to
give them respect that maybe they didn’t have in life. I felt a huge
responsibility and I was honored to play that role. Hopefully the film
can bring some reconciliation. I am not afraid of threats also,
because we have justice on our side,” Gazi told the Weekly.

Akin believes that massacres, deportations, and wars are still going
on in the Middle East because the suffering of 100 years ago–not only
of the Armenians, but of others, too–was never properly addressed.

“Because of the tragedy in his life, Nazareth, the main character,
loses his religion,” Akin said, back at the press conference. “But
throughout the story, he discovers spirituality again. I mean, he has
hope. And whenever there is hope, there is a certain kind of
spirituality. This is the journey of the hero–to get rid of the bounds
and the dogmas and get to the point, to the essential.”

According to French-Armenian actress Arevik Martirossyan, who plays
the role of Nazareth’s sister-in-law, Akin knows exactly what he
wants. “He has a great energy to gather things around him. He notices
everything and it was a great pleasure to work with him,” she said.

The 71st Venice International Film Festival will conclude on Sept. 6;
the awards will be announced on the same day. “The Cut” is one of the
strongest nominees. The Hamburg Film Festival–in Akin’s hometown–will
also host the German premiere of “The Cut” on Oct 16. In Hamburg, Akin
will be presented with the Douglas Sirk Award recognizing his work
both as a director and a producer. “He has set an example for a whole
generation of filmmakers, both in Turkey and Germany,” said Albert
Wiederspiel, the director of the Hamburg Festival, in his official
announcement. “His films were a starting point of a whole movement of
German filmmakers of Turkish origin.”

The plan of supporting ErdoÄ?an’s `younger brother’ in NATO summit failed

September 8 2014

On September 4-5, the NATO summit held in Newport City, Wales, south `
west of Great Britain, in participation of the leaders of 28 member
states, was remarkable in comparison with the previous ones. This
year’s summit was taking place under the annexation of the Crimea by
Russia and invasion towards the eastern Ukraine. `The North Atlantic
Alliance is facing challenges of the changed world. No need to cherish
an illusion. Russia does not consider us its partner. Russia considers
us an enemy, we have to cope with it,’ announced NATO Secretary
General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, ahead to the summit. Prior to the
summit, the U.S. President Barack Obama sent a clear message to
Moscow. The U.S., NATO’s the most powerful member, will give help to
the Baltic countries in case of external aggression. By the signal
addressed to the Kremlin, NATO will protect all its members, including
Russia’s immediate neighbors, commenced the NATO summit. Armenia has
made a decision to participate in the NATO summit at the presidential
level. On the background of Armenian integration to Eurasian programs,
this was a very important step, even an unexpected one, if we consider
the fact that S. Sargsyan had not attended the previous summits. In
2010, in Lisbon NATO summit, S. Sargsyan substantiated his decision of
not participating in the summit by generalized formulation to the
solution of the South Caucasus conflict in the draft declaration in
the framework of the summit. He did not also attend the 2012 NATO
summit on May in Chicago, again with the same reasoning. Attending the
NATO summit by CSTO-member country Armenia at the highest level when
RF is an unprecedented contradictions with leading countries of the
North-Atlantic Alliance, is a remarkable fact in itself. In his
speech, Serzh Sargsyan made an interesting remark with regard to the
document to be adopted in the framework of NATO. `There are two
options. Either it will adopt the language of the OSCE Minsk Group,
which is the only specialized international structure dealing with the
Nagorno-Karabakh problem, a language that was proposed and supported
by the Co-Chair countries that are represented here by France and the
United States of America, or upon the lobbying of another member State
it will pass again with an aim to save the face of our tyrant neighbor
vis-a-vis his own people. Believe me it will not lead to any positive
results. Either the common sense and the strive for peace will have
the upper hand, or the silent encouragement of xenophobia will go
deepening, the war rhetoric and the deadly provocations, so easily
provoked by Azerbaijan, which does not care about its soldiers’ lives
and gets enthusiastic with papers like that, will continue ahead,’
Serzh Sargsyan emphasized.’ The remark was clear. Prior to leaving for
Wales, newly elected Turkish President ErdoÄ?an in the beginning of the
talks with Azerbaijani President assured that the relations between
Turkey and Armenia will be regulated only after the resolution of the
available conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, and then he
announced that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue will be included on the
agenda of the NATO summit, where Turkey will remind Azerbaijan about
the importance of keeping to the promises give to the alliance.
ErdoÄ?an, as promised, delivered a speech in the NATO summit about
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in conformity with the demand of its
`younger brother’. On September 4, atripartite meeting was held in
Newport between Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev and US Secretary of State John Kerry on the
initiative of the American side. The tripartite meeting in Wales,
unlike the Sochi talks, where the presidents of the three countries
were sitting at the table, was attended by the OSCE Minsk Group
co-chair, James Warlick, Assistant Secretary of State for European and
Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, Victoria
Nuland, and Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. The U.S.
Secretary of State, Kerry, emphasized the absence of the alternative
to peaceful settlement of the conflict, exclusion of escalation of the
situation and urged finding mechanisms to ease the tension of the
conflict and develop confidence-building measures between the sides.
The U.S. Secretary of State also highlighted the continuation of the
negotiations by OSCE Minsk Group format, and expressed readiness to
possibly back up the search of ways for conflict resolution. In
support of the West, perhaps, another tripartite meeting will be
arranged. From the message about the meeting of Serzh Sargsyan and
French President Francois Hollande, it became known that the issue of
the forthcoming planned tripartite meeting of the presidents of
France, Armenia and Azerbaijan by the initiative of France is
discussed. After the Sochi tripartite meeting, the West is certain on
deciding to take, at least at this moment, the `steering wheel’ of the
settlement of Karabakh from Putin’s hand. Thus, Serzh Sargsyan made
two hey steps with his participation at the NATO summit: he maintained
the role of the OSCE Minsk Group in the future settlement, and for the
first time, from this high podium, called the leader of Azerbaijan a
`dictator’, and Aliyev’s defender ` to the new government of Turkey.
And ErdoÄ?an’s plan to support the `younger brother’ in Wales is not
worthy of considering implemented because, first, the phrase of
`Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’ is totally missing in NATO declaration,
and the section of supporting the South Caucasus countries is
balanced, as it is referred to the norms of international law and the
fundamental principles of the Helsinki Final Act. The NATO declaration
states that the alliance-member states continue supporting Armenia’s,
Azerbaijan’s, Georgia’s and Moldova’s territorial integrity,
independence and sovereignty. `We will continue to support efforts
towards a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in the south Caucasus,
as well as in the Republic of Moldova, based upon these principles and
the norms of international law, the UN Charter, and the Helsinki Final
Act. The persistence of these protracted conflicts continues to be a
matter of particular concern, undermining the opportunities for
citizens in the region to reach their full potential as members of the
Euro-Atlantic community. We urge all parties to engage constructively
and with reinforced political will in peaceful conflict resolution,
within the established negotiation frameworks,’ the declaration reads.
Note that the fundamental principles of the Helsinki Final Act are
three of them: territorial integrity, non-use of force, equality of
peoples’ rights and right to self-determination. Maybe the NATO
declaration is not what Serzh Sargsyan expected, but it is also not
what ErdoÄ?an and Aliyev would like to see today.

Emma GABRIELYAN
Read more at:

Edward Nalbandyan “Deserted”

Hakob Badalyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 08 September 2014, 20:48

The foreign minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan criticized the
Concluding Declaration of NATO Summit in Wales during the joint press
conference with the Austrian foreign minister on September 8 in
Yerevan. Nalbandyan criticized the declaration for the wording on the
Caucasian conflicts.

“Two of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs are also NATO members. Despite this,
during the recent NATO summits, with some changes from summit to
summit, also in the last one in Wales in the provision related to the
conflicts resolution in Moldova and the Southern Caucasus, there are
some expressions, which present generalized and selective approach,
which doesn’t reflect the proposals of the Co-Chairs, ideas and
approaches voiced by the Co-Chairs, as well as the numerous statements
and decisions adopted in the framework of the OSCE during the recent
years. This of course harms the negotiation process as well as
undermines regional stability and security,” Minister Nalbandyan
announced.

The situation about NATO declaration is relative. NATO traditionally
supported territorial integrity of Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. At
the same time, it mentioned the principles and norms of international
law, the UN charter and Helsinki Final Act, in other words, all that
underlies what is called the Principles of Madrid.

In this respect, NATO repeated for it declared after Chicago summit in
2012. Official Yerevan is dissatisfied with the focus of the
declaration being on territorial integrity. Is this the reason why the
Armenian foreign minister is so dissatisfied with the declaration and
tells it harmful to the negotiation process, as well as undermining of
regional stability and security.

Perhaps, Edward Nalbandyan considers the Russian-Turkish statements on
“joint settlement” of the conflict or the sale of Russian weapons of
4 billion dollars to Azerbaijan or Sergey Lavrov’s reference to the
liberated territories as “Azerbaijani territories” the return of which
should be resolved being helpful to regional security and stability.

In respect to these, Nalbandyan has never expressed any
dissatisfaction or detected or expressed concerns about any danger.
Meanwhile, he sees danger in the NATO declaration. Meanwhile,
developments took place at the NATO Wales summit which directly stem
from the interests of regional security and stability. In particular,
NATO has raised the level of cooperation with Georgia to the creation
of a joint military and training center, exchange of intelligence
data. At the same time, the U.S.-Georgia cooperation, supply of arms
is intensifying, which was highlighted by the visit of the U.S.
secretary of defense Chuck Hagel to Georgia.

All these indirectly promote security and stability in the South
Caucasus. One of the favorable statements was U.S. Secretary Kerry’s
statement ruling out escalation in Artsakh.

Another evidence is the consent of the religious leader of Iran to
official contacts between Tehran and Pentagon which is Iran’s direct
reaction to the results of NATO Wales summit and it would not have
been such if Iran did not detect significant factors that favor its
regional stability and security.

Armenia has not had a foreign policy for a long time, and the foreign
ministry with its role is a branch of the Russian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Armenia’s foreign policy has successfully arrived at this
under the leadership of Edward Nalbandyan. The Armenian foreign policy
is a function the remnants of which are lying heavily on the shoulders
of the Armenian armed forces which is already carrying a heavy load.

Hence, it is normal that Moscow complains of the NATO summit because
some decisions made during the summit, if implemented, will restore
the balance of forces shattered by the September 3 statement, prevent
the Russian-Turkish-Azerbaijani dominance and their maturing deal of
dividing the region among themselves.

Russia would certainly complain of such a summit.

The least of all evils might be Armenia’s attempt to flatter Russia
with such criticism of the declaration and it is not ruled out that
NATO will treat Nalbandyan’s words in this way. Moreover, if Russia’s
demands to Armenia are met, it will be considered as a real bargain
that Yerevan pays for sending its president to the summit in Wales.

ANCA always keeps France’s eyes open for Nagorno Karabakh issue

10:16, 8 September, 2014

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS: The Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA) considers the year of 2015 significant both with regard
to referring to the Armenian Genocide and finding ways to resolution
of the Karabakh conflict. ANCA representative Murad Papazyan told
Armenpress that they carry out a continuous work geared towards making
Karabakh a negotiating party.

“Karabakh should get involved in the negotiations no matter in which
format and should express its view. I think France is not against it,”
said Murad Papazyan.

In answer to the question whether the Armenian National Committee of
America has an initiative on working out a resolution on recognition
of the independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic by France, Murad
Papazyan noted:

“It is a difficult question, because France is a Minsk Group Co-Chair
country, and the USA and Russia search ways
for peaceful settlement of the conflict. France wants to find a just
solution. We always present the truth that Azerbaijan is the attacking
side and extends peacebreaking activity. The eyes of France are open:
they know that it is Azerbaijan that attacks, Azerbaijan hinders. But
it is not easy, because there are other parties too, which are not
consentaneous about the resolution.”

In his words, Fransua Holand wants to find a solution and play a role
in the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict. “We cooperate
with him already for 15 years and the sympathy for ANCA is apparent,”
Murad Papazyan added.

The current phase of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988, when in
response to the self-determination claims of NK population the Azeri
authorities organized massacres and ethnic cleansing of the Armenian
population on the entire territory of Azerbaijan, particularly in
Sumgait, Baku and Kirovabad. On December 10, 1991 NK population
declared the establishment of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (NKR) by
plebiscite, which fully complies with both international law norms and
the letter and spirit of the USSR laws of that time.

Conflict settlement negotiations are held in the framework of the OSCE
Minsk Group (Russia, USA, France). In the last decade, several options
for the settlement proposed by the co-chairs were rejected by
Azerbaijan. The last was “Paris Principles” in 2001 which were summed
up in the Key West document.

Currently, negotiations are held on the basis of the Madrid proposals
represented by co-chairs in November, 2007.
US State of California joined recently the other 4 states – Louisiana,
Maine, Manchester and Rhode Island recognizing the independence of the
Nagorno KarabakhRepublic and the self-determination right of Nagorno
Karabakh people.

Austrian journalist who visited NKR not allowed to visit Azerbaijan

14:04, 8 September, 2014

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Austrian journalist Yutte Bauer was
not allowed to enter Azerbaijan because of the visit to Nagorno
Karabakh in 2011.

As “Armenpress” reports citing Azerbaijani “APA” agency, the Press
Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has announced
about this.

Although the Die Press journalist put forward the thought that she was
not given an entry visa because of writing a critical article about
Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan Embassy in Austria gave another explanation
to the situation. “Yutte Bauer’s name was included in the “black list”
after she visited Nagorno Karabakh without having the agreement of the
official Baku. She can get an entry visa only by the time she formally
apologizes to Azerbaijan,” announced the
Azerbaijani Embassy in Austria.

Austrian official expresses concern about human rights situation in Azerbaijan

14:11 08/09/2014 >> POLITICS

Austria is concerned about the human rights situation in Azerbaijan,
Austrian Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs
Sebastian Kurz said at a joint press conference with Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan.

Mr Kurz is in Armenia on an official visit at the invitation of Edward
Nalbandian. He had a bilateral meeting with Armenia’s top diplomat
prior to the press conference.

“I will visit Azerbaijan in a few days and will have the possibility
to discuss the issue on the spot,” said the Austrian official.

“We will definitely use our opportunity to voice our criticism,”
Sebastian Kurz stressed.

Source: Panorama.am

Hollande spares no effort to organize talks between Armenian,
Azerbaijani leaders, says French lawmaker

10:13 * 08.09.14

French President Francois Holland spares absolutely no effort to
organize a new meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, a
French parliament member said, commenting on the latest developments
around Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

“The French president wishes to bring them next to each other to help
them reach a compromise. [He seeks], in particular, to convince the
sides that the Nagorno-Karabakh leadership too, should have its
participation in this process,” René Rouquet, a member of the
France-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship Group, told Tert.am

The French lawmaker said he has been frequently visiting Artsakh
recently, adding that he maintains good relations with the country’s
leadership.

“The Artsakh leadership is politically on a high level today. Its main
duty is explain and let the world know why the people there have found
themselves in the situation they are facing today and what key demands
they have for improving the situation and accomplishing the
Nagorno-Karaabkh Republic,” he noted.

Mr Rouquet, who is also the head of France’s Delegation to the Council
of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, said he sees that Azerbaijanis
manage to spend millions of their oil dollars in European
organizations today to lobby for anti-Armenian solutions to the
problem.

“Azerbaijan’s steps force us to spare no extra effort to counteract
their measures. Our delegation has a mission to let all Europeans,
[including] French politicians know about matters concerning the
Armenian reality, particularly the Nagorno-Karabakh issue,” he added.

He said their primary task is to promote Armenia’s progress to make
Armenians stay in the region and develop the country.

“We are trying, to the best of our efforts, to assist Armenia and be
also useful to Nagorno-Karabakh. We offer our contribution to the
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue to help it remain an Armenian
territory and be recognized as an independent country in future,” he
added.

HAUT KARABAGH
Un Azéri traverse la frontière et se constitue prisonnier auprès des
forces du Haut Karabagh

Le 5 septembre à 18h10 sur la ligne frontalière arméno-azérie du
nord-est de la République du Haut Karabagh, près du village de Verin
Tchaïlou, un Azéri a franchi la ligne de contact pour se rendre aux
forces arméniennes. Il s’agit d’un citoyen d’Azerbaïdjan du nom de
Mamedov Zavit Samiroglu. Les autorités arméniennes ont informé à
Stepanakert, le Comité de la Croix Rouge internationale. Nous avons
appris quelques heures plus tard que Zavit Samiroglu habite dans la
région de Tartar et qu’il serait le fis d’un des responsables de la
police routière de la région de Tartar. Aurait-il perdu sa route ?

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 7 septembre 2014,
Krikor Amirzayan (c)armenews.com

Edward Nalbandian: ªTurkey¬ should reconcile with its own past

22:40 06.09.2014

The French Le Figaro newspaper article has published an article by
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian:

In international relations there are, unfortunately, cases of missed
opportunities. The statement of Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an, followed by the
comments of other Turkish senior officials on the eve and after the
commemoration of the 99th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide are
such cases. The fabricated notions of `common pain’, `just memory’ and
the appeal to the Turks and Armenians to `follow Erdogan’s lead’ are
misleading. Ahmet Davutoglu declares `that the main goal of Erdogan’s
statement is prevention of worldwide efforts of the Genocide
recognition’. Instead of concrete steps towards reconciliation one can
find calls to complicity. I mean complicity against the international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

It is hard to find a nation nostalgic towards its centuries-old
suppression in its ancestral homeland. Any oppressed nation cannot
share the nostalgia towards the Ottoman Empire. Like other empires,
the Ottoman Empire was built upon and forcefully sustained through
suppression of the basic rights and freedoms of many of its citizens.

Mr. Davutoglu’s differentiation of the Western and Turkish perception
of sufferings by Christians and Muslims is astonishing. The Armenian
Genocide is not only part of Armenian or western memory and history,
but also of the memory of the Muslim world. One of the earliest
references to the Armenian Genocide belongs to Muslim witness Fayez
El Ghossein, who in 1916 published his work entitled `The Massacres in
Armenia.’ Sharif and Emir of Mecca Husayn ibn Ali was one of the
prominent Islamic leaders, who acted against the program of physical
annihilation of the Armenians and called on his subjects to defend
Armenians as they would defend themselves and their children. In
1919-1921 the large-scale extermination of Armenians were referred
such Turkish public figures as RefiCevat, Ahmet RefikAltinay. Many
Muslim historians refer to the massacres of Armenians as genocide,
while Arab historian Moussa Prince used the term ` Armenocide’,
considering it as `the most genocidal genocide.’

For the sake of `just memory’ artificial political actions and calls
are not needed, while those, who dare express their opinion freely are
killed likeHrant Dink, or exiled like Orhan Pamuk, or taken to
custody, like Ragıp Zarakolu.

Davutoglu is playing the same old tune of founding a commission of
historians `in order to find the truth’. One of the most competent
international institutions on genocide studies, the International
Association of Genocide Scholars, in answer to the same proposal, made
an appeal to the Turkish government to accept what had been proven
long ago. Instead of repeating decade-old re-worded or rephrased
appeals we need genuine and concrete steps. Ratification of the Zurich
Protocols, normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, opening of the
borders could pave the way to the difficult path of reconciliation
between our peoples. The sub-commission on historical dimension, as
envisaged by those Protocols, could implement a dialogue with the aim
to restore mutual confidence between the two nations. It would be
impossible to do by putting under question the reality of the Armenian
Genocide.

Led by an apparent desire to deny the fact of the genocide, as defined
by the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime
of Genocide, Erdogan’s message yet again underlined that what happened
in 1915 `was regardless of religion or ethnic origin.’ It seems that
the 1919 Turkish Military Tribunal’s Indictment, which proved by
undeniable facts that the deportations and large-scale massacres of
the Armenians were a state policy, and sentenced its main masterminds
to death, has been forgotten in Ankara. It seems that Rafael Lemkin’s
development of the concept of `genocide’ has gone unnoticed in Ankara.
I have to remind that 99 years ago on May 24, 1915 Russia, France and
the Great Britain issued a special declaration by which they warned
the perpetrators of the atrocities against the Armenian people of
their personal responsibility for `these new crimes of Turkey against
humanity and civilization.’ It is beyond any doubt that the Armenian
Genocide was organized with genocidal intent. Meanwhile an attempt is
made by the Turkish officials to equate the losses of the war and the
systematic annihilation of Armenians, as a result of which millions of
my predecessors lost their lives, homes, lands, properties. There was
an attempt to strip millions of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire of
their right to life, as well as their past ` more than 2000 cultural
and religious monuments were destroyed and the survivors were driven
off the lands they had inhabited for many centuries, before Turks came
to this region. In 1915 one of the chief masterminds of the Armenian
Genocide, then Interior Minister Mehmed Talaat Pasha confessed to
Germany’s Consul General that `there is no Armenian question, because
there are no more Armenians.’ He was wrong, but the nature, magnitude
and the consequences of that horrible crime are far beyond the
definition of `suffering.’

In one of the interviews Erdogan rhetorically asked `if such a
Genocide occurred would there have been any Armenians living in this
country?’ Today a large number of Jews live in Germany, but no one
would dare put under question the reality of the Holocaust. Or, how
can one speak of `relocation’, when 1.5 million of people died or were
killed? Planned marching people to the dessert, starving them to
death, killing most of them en route is not a relocation, it is a
`death march,’ it is a genocide.

The denial of the genocide, the atmosphere of impunity paved the way
for the repetition of new crimes against humanity. Genocide denial is
considered by scholars as the last phase of the crime of genocide.
Even though there are still few who continue to deny, but this does
not mean that there is a `dispute’ about it. On the one hand, there is
the fact of genocide that nobody doubts in the world, the pain of
which every single Armenian family anywhere in the world bears until
now, and on the other hand, there is an official and imposed denial of
the genocide by the Turkish government. Turkey is in dispute with
itself.

Is it possible to make the descendents of genocide survivors, spread
all over the world, a part of the complicity of genocide denial? Is it
possible to equate perpetrators and victims of genocide by such
clichés as `common pain’? It is appalling to imagine that the
perpetrators of Holocaust, of genocides in Cambodia, in Rwanda, and
other crimes against humanity, can be equated with the victims. Is it
even possible to consider genocide survivors’ descendants as `Turkish
diaspora’, which some Turkish politicians are trying to do today?

As Rwanda Genocide survivor Esther Mujawayo recently mentioned at the
#UN Human Rights Council High Level Panel Discussion in #Geneva
dedicated to the #GenocidePreventionConvention, `Today is the fourth
generation of Armenians who are still waiting’. Not only Armenians,
the whole international community for almost 100 years has been
waiting for Turkey to recognize the Armenian Genocide. The genuineness
of the desire for reconciliation must be proven through recognition
and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide. The Turkish government must
not refrain from genuine reconciliation. Thousands of Turkish citizens
have opted for that path already.

Davutoglu mentions Armenian composer #Komitas as an example of
Armenians’ creative activities in the Ottoman Empire. ‘Just memory’
should have shed some light on the life of Komitas, who was a witness
of the Genocide. He had seen all the sufferings, the horror that
befell the Armenians and said that `nobody knows all the wounds of our
tragedy¦ this distress will drive us mad!’ And from 1916 onwards, for
20 years he spent his life in a psychiatric hospital.

On April 24, 2003 when we were unveiling the Komitas statue in Paris,
I expressed hope that this memorial to the Armenian Genocide victims
could symbolize the sufferings and memory of the victims of all
genocides perpetrated in the 20th century, that it would become a
mourning site for all those who consider tolerance and respect to
human life and dignity as a continuous process, that there would bow
not only the descendents of those who suffered physically and
spiritually, but also the descendents of those who caused those
sufferings. I believe that the route to reconciliation is not a path
of denial, but that of conscious memory, because true reconciliation
does not mean forgetting the past or feeding younger generations with
the tales of denial. Turkey should reconcile with its own past to be
able to build its future.

The President of Armenia has invited the Turkish President to visit
Armenia on April24, 2015, on the occasion of the commemoration of the
100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. We hope it will not be a
missed opportunity and Turkey’s President will be in Yerevan on that
day.